Remembering Edwige Belmore, the Legendary Punk of Parisian Nightlife

Edwige Belmore, whose passing Vogue has recently learned of, palled around with Yves Saint Laurent, Loulou de la Falaise, Bianca Jagger, and Farida Khelfa. She was photographed by Helmut Newton, Maripol, and Pierre et Gilles; reportedly dated both Sade and Grace Jones; kissed Andy Warhol on the cover of Façade (“The Queen of Punk Meets the Pope of Pop”); and walked the runway for both Jean Paul Gaultier and Thierry Mugler. At the former’s 1979 James Bond extravaganza, she took to the catwalk in ripped fishnets and a black feathered jacket, singing “My Way” (the Sid Vicious version, bien sûr).

But Belmore was much more than the boldface names she’s often associated with. An androgynous beauty who mixed Le Smoking with safety pin earrings and her trademark bleach-blonde chop, she cut a singular figure in the nightlife scenes of both Paris and New York City. When not serving as a muse to many and working the door at Le Palace, Belmore was also one-half of the French New Wave band Mathématiques Modernes. On social media, Khelfa, Catherine Baba, and nightlife legend Duggie Fields have already posted remembrances, while many more are sure to follow in the days to come.